Frim Woodstock: Foreclosures are Up and Rising

Woodstock found that for Chicago, initial foreclosure filings increased by 10.2 percent, but the activity varied widely by neighborhood. Some of the largest percentage gains last year were in Lincoln Park, up 103 percent; Near South Side, up 46 percent; and Near North Side, up 37 percent.

At the same time, some of the communities hardest hit by the first waves of the foreclosure crisis — neighborhoods such as Austin, Hyde Park, Auburn Gresham and Englewood — reported fewer foreclosure filings last year than in 2008.

“In ‘06, ‘07 and early ‘08, the main driver was badly written loans,” Smith said. “As those loans cycle out of the system through the foreclosure process, the economy hasn’t improved, you see that [unemployment] is maybe more of a factor.”

Here is another Great Buy

From the MLS

The home has just been reactivated in the MLS listings. It is a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom, on a 130x400 lot size, taxes are $12,273.00, built in 1988 and has been rehabbed. This is a bank owned property. The starting list price was $3,600.000. The new list price is $1,295,000. That shows how the banks are trying to move property off of the books.
The house is in Hinsdale South High School district,swimming pool, marble, the house is in great condition. We will watch this.

Walking from Homes is the new thing

Today I read in New York Times that more people are walking away from the homes . This is a very sad fact. The homeowners are walking if they see the value of their home has dropped by 75%. Who would stay knowing that the home has little value, and they can not make any money from it. Again I wonder what is going to make a first time buyer want to buy. If the government bail out is not working now then why stay in the home. I know of a friend's son who bought in Florida, has been transfered up north and the condo is valued 78% less. Should he walk?

What is a Hardship in a Short Sale

A hardship is a change in your life style that has created a new status for you. It is a reason that the bank will allow you to short sale your home. Examples are: divorce, lost of income, change of job, health, and injury. The list is long and the important thing to do is to make sure the bank is aware of your change. It can be done with an application from your banker. So my advise is to keep the communication open with your mortgage lender.

New Release today on New Homes from Crains

(Crain’s) — Local new-home sales inched higher in the fourth quarter, but homebuilders will remain stuck in their slump until the economy recovers.

Chicago-area builders sold 584 homes in the fourth quarter, up 3.9% from 562 in the year-earlier period, according to a recent report by Tracy Cross & Associates Inc. It was a positive end to an otherwise awful year for local developers, who sold just 3,753 units in 2009, down 41.0% from the year earlier and 88.7% from the market’s peak in 2005.

Though a federal tax credit and low interest rates have propped up the market, high unemployment and a tight lending market have depressed demand, which isn’t likely to bounce back anytime soon.

“We see normalcy in the Chicago market probably being established in 2013,” says Tracy Cross, president of the Schaumburg-based consulting firm. Normalcy, he says, “will more or less look like ’93 to ’98 or ’99,” not the boom of the last decade.

Sales in the city fell 12.5% in the fourth quarter, to 21 units, while suburban sales rose 4.6%, to 563 units. For the year, city builders sold 848 homes, a 42.7% decline from 2008, and suburban sales totaled 2,905, a 40.5% drop.

New-home sales will rise about 10% this year, “but that is off such a low base that it is meaningless,” Mr. Cross says. Many sales “will result from reselling of distressed properties that are bank-owned.”